BALQSO Side-by-Side
These two Chandra images demonstrate the different
appearances of "normal" and "shrouded" quasars. In
these images, blue represents high-energy X-rays while
red corresponds to lower-energy X-rays. The image on
the left, created by combining the light from 8 of
these shrouded quasars, appears distinctly blue. This
is because the low-energy X-rays from the quasars have
been absorbed by an obscuring "donut" of gas and dust
surrounding their cores. In comparison, the Chandra
image of the non-shrouded quasar PG 1634+706 shows that
low-energy X-rays escape without the masking clouds of
gas and dust. Recent data from Chandra reveal that --
despite their differences in appearance -- these two
types of quasars are the same types of object, but
viewed from a different angle.(Credit: NASA/CfA/P.Green et
al.)

BALQSO Low Energy
This Chandra image of the non-shrouded quasar known as
PG 1634+706 shows that low-energy X-rays, shown in red,
escape without the masking clouds of gas and
dust.(Credit: NASA/CfA/P.Green et
al.)

BALQSO High Energy
This image was created by combining the light from 8
of these shrouded quasars and appears distinctly blue,
which indicates that most of the lower-energy X-rays
have been absorbed by the obscuring cloud of gas and
dust surrounding the quasars' cores.(Credit: NASA/CfA/P.Green et
al.)